Surprise, Surprise
by riversgirl75
Summary: One-Shot: A fun look into Hermione's life ten years after leaving Hogwarts.


Surprise, Surprise

Hermione groaned as she reached down and picked up two pairs of muddy shoes off the living room floor. As she straightened back up, she heard a loud BANG! from upstairs.

 _What now?_ she wondered, walking - more like waddling - to the base of the stairs.

"Honey? What was that? Honey? Is everything alright? Did you hear that? GEORGE?" she ultimately bellowed, growing more and more impatient to be acknowledged.

"Um, it's nothing, dear," she heard George call from behind a closed door upstairs.

"Why is 'nothing' causing smoke to fill the hallway, darling?" she asked sweetly but menacingly, making her way up the stairs slowly. She paused to catch her breath on the landing.

A messy red head poked out from behind a cracked door. Bright blue eyes widened when they saw Hermione coming up the rest of the steps and fanning smoke in the air.

"Blimey, love, why did you come all the way up here?" George stepped abruptly out into the hall, closing the door behind him. Hermione marched directly up to him, glaring suspiciously.

"George Fabian Weasley, do I smell burning hair?" she demanded, attempting to cross her arms in front of her chest, but finding it difficult, so resorting to putting her hands on her hips. George leaned down and kissed her on her forehead, his hands resting on her enormous stomach.

"Love, you should be resting," he scolded her gently. "Healer's orders. Feet up, no stress, right? Don't worry about what's going on up here - it's all under control." He put his arm around Hermione's shoulders and tried to guide her away from the door behind him. "Now, do you want to go lay down in bed, or would you prefer I carry you back downstairs to the couch?" He jokingly stretched his arms and did a couple of deep-knee bends, as if he had to warm up to pick up the petite witch.

Against her better judgment, she giggled, but quickly suppressed her mirth when the smell of burning brought her back to reality.

"I'm not going anywhere until let me see what is going on in there," she nodded to the closed door, and suddenly she was sure she heard suspicious sounds coming from the room. "Now, will you let me in, or shall we do this the hard way? I think you're forgetting my skills in wandless and nonverbal spells," she warned him.

George shook his head with a smile and replied, "Okay, okay, I'll let you in, but you can't be mad, alright?" He stepped aside, and as she reached for the knob, she looked curiously at him over her shoulder.

She opened the door wide, and two little voices cried out, "No Mama! No! You can't come in yet! Daddy! Daddy! Mommy got inside!"

Twin pairs of chubby legs ran over to her, and identical heads of frizzy red curls looked up at her face as four pudgy fists clutched Hermione's legs. She gazed in wonder around the room that was once her study but was now transitioning into a cotton candy-colored nursery. The bang she heard from downstairs seemed to have been paint cans falling off a step ladder, but the source of the smoke was a mystery at first glance.

Hermione crouched down, with great difficulty, to eye level with the two gorgeous two-year-old boys smiling at her adoringly. "Freddie, Griffin, what have you two done?" she asked playfully, her love for these toddlers shining in her eyes.

George walked up behind her and held her carefully to help her stand back up. He led her to a finished corner of the room, where a rocking chair and side table sat, a book of Muggle nursery rhymes resting on the tabletop.

Hermione took the seat gratefully, her hands absentmindedly wrapping around her belly as the twins clambered into her lap, snuggling into her lovingly.

"Mama, we got the nursery ready for baby Rose!" Freddie said gleefully.

"It's a surprise for you, Mommy!" Griffin declared proudly.

"Well, I certainly am surprised," Hermione smiled at her boys. She looked at her biggest "boy" as he strode across the room and knelt in front of her.

"You're not mad, love?" George asked with apprehension. "I know you had some ideas about how our daughter's room should look, but the boys and I, well, we really wanted to do something special for you and let you rest." He looked into her caramel-colored eyes sincerely.

"Mad? How could I be? I love what you've done! We always said that when we had more children I'd need to give up my study. This room is lovely! Once we put in a few more pieces of furniture, and perhaps clean up that pain spill in the middle of the floor, we'll be all set to bring our new babies home." She smiled mysteriously at her husband as he processed her statement.

"Babies…Did you just say 'babies'? As in, more than one baby?" George stuttered, his eyes widening in shock.

Hermione gently lowered the boys to the floor and stood up, taking George's hands in hers and placing them on her stomach. She nodded and smiled, excited that for once, she was the one with the surprise.

"Twins?" George's voice dropped to a whisper.

"Twins."

"Again?"

"Again."

"Girls?"

"Girls."

"Boys! Guess what?" Griffin looked up from the floor, where he held Freddie down by his hair.

"What, Daddy?" Freddie asked, his voice muffled underneath his brother.

"We're having TWO babies! You're gonna have two sisters!" George picked them both up and swung them around the room, the brothers howling with laughter. Hermione watched in awe of her husband's ability to take everything in stride.

Suddenly, George stopped twirling and stared at his wife. "We need another name! We need another crib! We need more nappies!" He began pace, ticking off a to-do list on his fingers.

"Well, it's a good thing we have a month or so to finish getting ready. Our daughters will both have names, beds, and nappies, I'm sure," Hermione reassured him.

George ran his hands through his hair and smiled in relief. "You're right, of course, my dear. After all, you're not known as the brightest witch for nothing." He kissed her lightly on the lips and looked down at her stomach in awe.

"George?" Hermione looked into her husband's eyes.

"Yes, my love?" He nuzzled her neck, holding her as close to him as her protruding belly would allow.

"Just one more thing…"

"What?! You don't have another surprise, do you?" George stepped back, eyes wide once more.

"No, no, it's just, I was wondering what -"

BANG!

Smoke filled the air and the twins burst into giggles. Their parents swiveled around and waved the haze away to find Freddie holding his father's wand in his fist and Griffin holding the charred remains of a paintbrush. George rushed over and took his wand back, pocketing it.

"That's where it went! I was looking for that," he muttered, looking sheepishly at his wife.

Hermione shook with laughter, her eyes filled with mirth.

"Well, that answered that question. How about no more surprises, okay, boys?"

"Okay!" Griffin nodded.

"'Kay," Freddie agreed.

"I think we've had enough surprises for today, honey. But there's always tomorrow!" George's eyes twinkled merrily at the mother of his mischievous sons.

 _Two boys and now two girls..._ he thought. _Gods help us!_


End file.
